Increase Your Sales for the Holidays

Inventory

• List market niche books. Online marketplaces attract buyers searching for collectable, rare or specialized items. Get your name known on Abebooks as the source for niche books!
• What is popular, trendy or in the movie theatres? Eager fans and trend followers want to learn as much as possible and what better way to learn than through books?
• Add keywords to your book listings. Some buyers look for books on a certain subject matter without having a specific title in mind. Help them find those books by adding keywords to each of your book records.
• Attach your listings to Abebooks browse categories. Anyone browsing through these topics from the Abebooks.com homepage will be able to see your listings.
• Go global! Abebooks is a global marketplace - why not appeal to international markets by adding Spanish, German, Italian and French keywords?
• Organize your inventory by using catalogs. This makes browsing your inventory easier for buyers. This encourages them to purchase more than one book from you!
• Consider adding seasonal books at the appropriate times of year.
• Be detailed in your description. State the edition or printing and include a synopsis of the subject matter or story plot. Be sure to include the book and jacket condition as well.
• A picture may sell your book better than a thousand words. Add pictures of your book to the listing so that potentials buyers can see exactly what is being sold. Try placing individual books on a plain white background when taking the picture so that the book is the focus of the picture.
• Offer several books by individual authors. Fans of a specific author will often buy more than one book by that person. Also, if a writer has suddenly become popular, there is often greater interest in their earlier works.
• Review our Web Events for our upcoming features. Abebooks posts in advance what will be featured on the site. Have your matching stock listed in time for these features so that they will be in the search results.
• Awards and recommendations can generate a lot of interest in books. Read through book awards and bestseller lists for ideas.
• What buyers want, they will buy. Take some time to review the books wanted list on Abebooks.
• If possible, increase the number of books you list on Abebooks.

Pricing Your Books

• Buyers comparison shop, so why not comparison price? Compare and adjust your book prices to remain competitive with the market.
• Check the publisher information. Books produced by specific publishers may be more valuable, particularly some of the fine presses.
• It may sound silly but, confirm that out-of-print books are in fact, out-of-print. If the edition is still available new, then the book will be considered simply as “used” by buyers.
• Used books in Very Good to Fine condition are generally offered at half the original retail price.
• A lot of the bestselling fiction is printed in large runs which means that the market for these books in used condition can quickly be flooded which will drive the resale value down.
• If you are unable to find a lot of copies of a book on the Internet, prepare to do some research. Find out exactly what it is that you have and why it is uncommon or priced highly by other sellers.
• If your search for a specific title turns up nothing, try looking at other works by the same author. As a general rule, for instance, a first novel will have more value than later works (although this is not true in every case).
• Illustrators can be highly collectable. Searching the internet for author and illustrator combinations can give you insight as to the interest in the illustrator.
• Book Club Editions don’t have the same value as the regular editions.
• Be careful not to price too low or too high. An unusually low price may get the buyer thinking that there is a problem with a book while an over priced book will deter a buyer.

Shipping & Order Processing

• Consider joining our successful Free Shipping program. Often, buyers are more likely to spend more on an item than on shipping costs.
• Adjust your shipping costs to remain competitive with the market. A comparison of booksellers’ shipping rates may be the deciding factor when a buyer is choosing which copy to purchase.
• Set realistic shipping speeds. It is understandable that you want to build in a cushion to avoid customer disappointment but an extraordinarily long shipping time can be a deterrent.
• Prove to the customer that they can have confidence by processing and shipping your orders in a timely manner. Ship within two days.
• Answer customer inquiries as quickly as possible; respond within two days at the most.
• Ship orders using a traceable method and inform the buyers of this added service by noting it in your Shipping Information.
• A personal touch can go a long way. Abebooks does send buyers automatic email confirmations of orders but why not send personal emails to confirm and order and the order shipment. Other Tips
• Create a free Abebooks homepage that you can send buyers to for a link to search your Abebooks inventory. Go for a polished, clean and professional look that will build confidence in you and your expertise.
• Add the URL to search your inventory on Abebooks to your e-mails.
• Take advantage of co-branding opportunities offered by Abebooks. (E.g. bookmarks, stickers, etc. - watch your Bookseller Digests for info.)